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The people they encountered were obviously desperate for coin, selling a variety of knickknacks and dehydrated food.
Arkimedes tipped his head toward Nava, as if called by her turbulent thoughts. The endless questions running through her mind hadn’t ceased since they’d left the shop. “We are close now,” he said with a tentative smile.
He clearly meant to calm her down, but it achieved the opposite. Dread pooled in her stomach with each step that brought them closer to their temporary hideout. What if a group of Crows awaited them there? What if her enemy-turned-ally Devon Black betrayed them? After the way he’d acted in the bakery, she wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.
Nava’s legs burned as she attempted to match Ark’s and Devon’s pace. “If my mother were alive, she would die all over again if she learned I was marching into a Crow’s safe house—willingly.” She wiped off the sweat dripping down her temple. These giants had no sympathy for her much shorter legs.
Devon’s smirk spread across his face as he turned the corner into a new, darker alley. “Do tell. What do you believe she would have said?”
“That I’m being reckless and foolish,” she said, glancing at the sunrise peeking out from behind the roofs. It warmed her face despite the chilly morning air.
“Look at the positive side. We might find some of Celeste’s old wanted posters in there. Perhaps you could take one back to your new castle as a keepsake.”
“Hilarious…” Nava chewed at the inside of her mouth, trying to swallow the old grief that clutched at her heart as she remembered her mother’s stern frown and the soft notes of her vanilla perfume. It wouldn’t be so bad if she found something of hers in there, a little reminder to lend her strength. “What if we end up finding more trouble with the Crows instead?”
Arkimedes’s dark gaze swept from Devon to her, his tall frame casting a wide shadow over them. “The Society hasn’t sent the Corvus to the city in months. According to my father, none have come since my arrival.”
What did he mean by the Corvus? It wasn’t a term she’d heard before. She barely restrained a grunt of frustration. It was hard to make sense of what had happened when Arkimedes didn’t remember the last decade of his life.
“So, has it been a decade since the Crows came here—or four months?” she asked. “Do you think the king lied to prevent you from coming here?”
“It’s possible, although I keep hearing that the fae can’t lie. So I assumed it’s true…” Arkimedes’s lips tilted into a wicked smile.
Nava smacked the side of his shoulder with an open palm. “Stop teasing me, Ark. I’m nervous. If you had asked me last year to walk willingly into a Crow’s nest, I would have laughed and run away.”
“I refuse to believe that,” Devon said. “You crave danger. It’s why you came to this kingdom to rescue Arkimedes with only me, your enemy, as your backup.” He raised three fingers, counting out her recent questionable life choices. “Also, you’re in love with a scary man who can rip people’s souls away.”
Nava’s cheeks warmed. “That’s not?—”
Arkimedes’s low chuckle cut through her words. “He’s got a point.”
“I don’t crave danger!” Nava complained, though her tone lacked any heat. “I was not expecting you to be a prince without memories. Or that I would have to fight a mad king for your freedom.” She cleared her throat, looking away from their irritating smirks. “In any case, what’s our plan if the Crows do show up?”
“They won’t. The safe house is the perfect place for us to regroup and plan our next move.” The warmth of Ark’s breath caressed her frozen knuckles, right before he dropped his soft lips to them.
Her stomach fluttered like dozens of butterflies had taken flight all at once. Arkimedes didn’t blink or move, as if daring her to pull her hand back. Maybe she should, but she was having a hard time remembering why she was upset in the first place. Something about him locking her away somewhere.
Ah, there it was. The steady ember of her anger.
He smirked and let go of her hand. “Right now, the biggest threat to you is my father, not the Society.”
Nava bit the inside of her cheek. Best not to blurt out her errant thoughts in the middle of an alleyway. Was the king truly her biggest threat? She was unsure who she should fear more, him or the Zorren. They were her mortal enemies.
If she were to believe Caden’s words, the man in the shadows was coming for her and Aristaeus. She needed to return to the forest promptly.
Nava wanted no more secrets between her and Arkimedes. As soon as they escaped the streets, she had to inform him about the events in the shadow world—and about his doppelgänger.
Devon snatched a brown paper bag with roasted cashews from Arkimedes’s hand. They’d bought them from a street vendor on their way. “Besides, the Society rarely sends the Corvus during the summer and winter solstice, for reasons the two of you are well acquainted with.”
Arkimedes’s cheeks burned red as he choked on the nuts he’d been chewing. Images of what had happened the night of the solstice flashed through Nava’s mind, making her heart speed and blood pool straight into her core. The magically induced heat of the summer solstice had been sweet and hot, and the mere memory of it made her skin burn.
She stumbled, but before she could fall, Arkimedes had already grabbed her. He held her as if she weighed nothing.
“Watch your steps, Bee.”
Their eyes met, and his pupils dilated. He must be remembering it, too. The way he’d ripped that ugly yellow dress off her body and made love to her after the masquerade ball. They’d discovered together that the queen’s tree was, in fact, alive, signaling the arrival of a new queen. Nava.
If Arkimedes wasn’t holding her so tightly against his chest, she would be dissolving into a puddle right where she stood. How could someone radiate so much heat in the chilly morning air?
